Why Do We Always Do Three Sets?

[w0cyru01]

The one I follow you do 5x5 for all lifts.
Monday and Friday:
Squat
Bench
Dynamic Row

Wednesday:
Deadlift
Overhead Press
Pullups

Ramp up to 5RM on each lift...generally increment by 10%

[Chameleon]

I think I'll throw my hat back in this ring and tell you about what I'm doing right now... I decided to switch things up and shock my body a bit for the next month... I've started a HIT routine.. thats High Intensity Training.. the idea here is that you hit each muscle with one excercise for one set going to failure with very little rest between excercises... there are several rep schemes you can use, 8-10 reps, 12-15 reps, etc... I'm using the 8-10 rep scheme... my last workout (Monday) looked like this:

Leg Press: 450 lbs, 12 reps (2 more than last time... I need to increase the weight next time)
Leg Raises: 90 lbs, 13 reps (increased this by 10 lbs and still went over my 8-10 rep range... will increase again next time)
Leg Curl: 70 lbs, 9 reps (went down by 1 rep, but my legs are still killing me from horseback riding on Saturday, so I'm blaming that for the loss )
Calf Raises (sled): 250 lbs, 10 reps (increased by 25 lbs... the last rep was really hard... I'll stay at this weight for now)
DB Bench Press: 45 lbs, 10 (last rep was assited... this was an increase of 5 lbs)
Incline DB Bench Press: 35 lbs, 11 reps (increase of 2 reps... need to increase weight next time)
Low Row (cable): 90 lbs, 11 reps (an increase of 1 rep, but it was really hard to get it... I think I'll stay at this weight for one more workout)
Pulldowns: 90 lbs, 8 reps
DB Military Press: 35 lbs, 7 reps (increase of 15 lbs)
Lateral Raises: 12 lbs, 14 reps (increase of 4 reps... increase weight next time)
Rear Delt Raises: 12 lbs, 10 reps (I thought I'd add these to keep my shoulder development balanced)
DB Curl: 25 lbs, 9 reps (increase of 1 rep)
Tricep Pushdowns (straight bar): 110 lbs 7 reps (increase of 10 lbs), dropped to 100 lbs for 2 reps, rested for 20-30 seconds dropped to 80 lbs and did 9 more reps (I really wanted to blast my tri's)
Cable Crunches: 60 lbs, 15 reps
Machine Crunches: 75 lbs, 10 (increase of 1 rep)

Monday was my second HIT workout and I'll be doing it again tonight... I'll do 2 to 3 HIT workouts a week and at least 6 day's of fasted LISS cardio for 45 minutes... in 4-6 weeks I'll evaluate how this program has worked for me and decide then if I'm going back to a higher volume program or if I'll stick to this for a bit longer I like how fast I get in & out of the gym with this program and I'm really feeling the DOMS with it... I get at least 2 day's of rest between workouts, sometimes 3 day's

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Brice

I see talk about a 5x5 routine. I've never tried this myself, so what kind of weight does one use for this (percentage wise) and is it advisible to do 5x5 for every exercise, or just core lifts?

I use pretty much just free weights.

I don't think you would get as much out of doing 5 reps on a machine, as machines already support you anyway.


William, I'm doing a bent over row instead of dynamic.

Yesterday I did:

Bench - dumbells as the bench barbell was unavailable
Bent over row - barbell
Squat
Biceps - dumbells

Tomorrow I have planned:

Shoulder press - barbell
Deadlift
Pullups
Lying Tri extension - E-Z

I have added the bi's and tri's, as they are just exercises I personally enjoy.

[w0cyru01]

Sounds good. Doing isolation work is fine as longas you don't devote an entire day to it.

The only reason I like the dynamic row is because it allows me to get leg drive, thus I can lift more weight. I often switch back and forth between the two though since I enjoy both.

Make sure that shoulder press is standing...requires your core in addition to putting the weight up. Hope you see good results.

[Andrew]

3 of my exercises picked at random.

For example; this was what I done today on the dumbell shoulder press - seated:

30kg x 5 1 set
35kg x 5 1 set
40kg x 5 1 set
45kg x 5 2 sets

For my bent over row I did:

30kg x 5 1 set
50kg x 5 2 sets
55kg x 5 2 sets

Squat:

70kg x 5 1 set
85kg x 5 1 set
90kg x 5 1 set
95kg x 5 1 set
100kg x 5 1 set


I try to start off so that I am just really warming up to the exercise and not pushing myself too much, but I like the last set - regardless of the exercise - to be close to a failure set.

[Chameleon]

Originally Posted by Andrew

3 of my exercises picked at random.

For example; this was what I done today on the dumbell shoulder press - seated:

30kg x 5 1 set
35kg x 5 1 set
40kg x 5 1 set
45kg x 5 2 sets

For my bent over row I did:

30kg x 5 1 set
50kg x 5 2 sets
55kg x 5 2 sets

Squat:

70kg x 5 1 set
85kg x 5 1 set
90kg x 5 1 set
95kg x 5 1 set
100kg x 5 1 set


I try to start off so that I am just really warming up to the exercise and not pushing myself too much, but I like the last set - regardless of the exercise - to be close to a failure set.

that's a monster routine man

[Andrew]

I didn't do them all yesterday.

Yesterday I did the shoulder press, delt raises free weight, triceps extension e-z and some pull ups. all 5x5